19 - Ecology of a successful invader: the European rabbit in central Chile

Summary

The ecology of the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus), introduced to different parts of the world, is relatively well known (see Lockley, 1964, for Great Britain; Myers, 1970, for Australia; Gibb et al., 1978, for New Zealand; Rogers, 1979, 1981, for France). Comparatively little, however, is known about the ecology of rabbits in their native lands (but see Soriguer, 1979, for Spain) or in those parts of South America where it has become established, as, for instance, in the mediterranean-climate region of central Chile.

That European rabbits were not present in the central Chilean matorral prior to 1845 is evident from Gay (1847) who noted the climatic and physiognomic similarities between southern Spain and central Chile. Gay (1847) enthusiastically recommended introduction of the rabbit. European rabbits were introduced eventually and became established in central Chile about the turn of this century. Whether they were purposely released or escaped to the wild from cages is not known. Albert (1902) listed the species of native and introduced animals in Chile in 1900 and rabbits were not known from central Chile at that time. Although European hares (Lepus capensis) were listed by Albert, rabbits were not; in fact, rabbits were apparently not abundant in central Chile as late as 1940 (Osgood, 1943). By the early 1960s, however, rabbits were already considered a pest (Greer, 1965). Reportedly, they raided agricultural plots, forestry plantations and grazing lands, thus interfering with important human concerns (Ferriere et al., 1983).